Apparatus for processing cellulose insulation
AssigneeEasy Engineering Corporation
InventorJohn H. Brady
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A new and useful apparatus has been devised for grinding paper into cellulose fiber insulation in which a hammermill or rotary beater has a paper feed inlet which establishes a low pressure zone at the entrance to the hammermill housing whereby to encourage reverse flow of partially ground materials from the outer perimeter of the hammermill into the low pressure zone, the partially ground material tending to collect in the form of a vortex and to recombine with the main stream of material being supplied into the feed inlet. In this way any of the partially ground or shredded material not small enough to pass through a classification grid or screen at the discharge of the hammermill will continuously intermix with the main stream of material for continuous grinding to the desired size.
Claims10
In apparatus for grinding and pulverizing cellulose materials and the like wherein an outer frame supports a grinder housing, said grinder housing defined by an outer semicylindrical housing wall provided with discharge openings to permit removal of pulverized materials less than a predetermined size from said housing wall, said frame providing an upper inlet opening above said sidewalls, and grinding means having rotary beater elements is disposed within said housing wall for grinding and pulverizing materials coming into contact therewith into a predetermined size for removal through said discharge openings, the improvement comprising:
- (i) feed inlet means for introducing unground materials through said upper inlet opening into communication with the interior of said housing wall, said feed inlet means having opposite, downwardly convergent sidewall portions terminating in a throat region spaced above said upper inlet opening;
- and
- (ii) reverse flow means defined by a generally arcuate-shaped hood diverging away from one of said sidewall portions at said throat region of said feed inlet means and extending downwardly toward one wall of said housing wall, said hood disposed on the side of said housing wall in the direction of rotation of said beater elements, said reverse flow means forming a relatively low pressure area with respect to the air pressure within said housing wall whereby to encourage reverse flow of partially ground materials not sufficiently small enough to pass through said discharge openings in a direction counter to the movement of the unground materials through said feed inlet means, and deflector means on said hood being operative to cause the partially ground materials flowing into the low pressure area of said hood to be reintroduced into said throat region for intermixture with the unground materials introduced into said housing wall.
A cellulose insulation processing machine adaptable for grinding sheets of paper into shredded cellulose material comprising:
- an elongated housing defined by an outer, generally semi-cylindrical housing wall provided with discharge openings therein, rotary beater elements mounted for rotation about a central axis extending longitudinally of said housing, and an outer frame in outer spaced surrounding relation to said housing wall including discharge means in communication with said discharge openings in said outer wall to induce the removal of cellulose material ground to a preselected size by said rotary beater elements, an upper enclosure disposed over said housing wall and provided with an inlet opening extending the substantial length of said housing wall in communication with the interior of said housing wall, and drive means for rotationally driving said rotary beater elements about said central axis;
- feed inlet means extending into communication with said inlet opening, said feed inlet means traversing the substantial length of said housing wall and having opposite sidewall portions converging downwardly and terminating in a throat region spaced above said inlet opening and of a width less than said inlet opening, said feed inlet means extending in a direction to encourage material which is fed into said feed inlet means to enter said inlet opening interiorly along the side of said housing wall in the direction of rotation of said rotary beater elements;
- reverse flow means in the form of a generally arcuate, elongated hood traversing the substantial length of said feed inlet means directly above said housing at the point of introduction of materials from said feed inlet means into said inlet opening, said arcuate elongated hood disposed on the side of said housing wall in the direction of rotation of said beater elements and having a lower end extending in a tangential direction away from the side of said housing wall and an upper end converging into one of said sidewall portions of said feed inlet means at the throat region whereby to encourage the reverse flow of partially ground material not passing through said discharge openings upwardly along the side of said housing wall into said hood;
- and
- deflector means protruding from the upper end of said arcuate hood to divert the unground materials returning into said hood into the throat region of said feed inlet means for intermixture with the unground materials introduced into said feed inlet means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.